The is a DC

electric multiple unit An electric multiple unit or EMU is a multiple-unit train consisting of self-propelled carriages using electricity as the motive power. An EMU requires no separate locomotive, as electric traction motors are incorporated within one or a numbe ...

(EMU) train operated by

West Japan Railway Company , also referred to as , is one of the Japan Railways Group (JR Group) companies and operates in western Honshu. It has its headquarters in Kita-ku, Osaka. It is listed in the Tokyo Stock Exchange, is a constituent of the TOPIX Large70 index, and ...

(JR-West) for use on suburban services in the

Hiroshima is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture in Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 1,199,391. The gross domestic product (GDP) in Greater Hiroshima, Hiroshima Urban Employment Area, was US$61.3 billion as of 2010. Kazumi Matsui h ...

area of Japan since 14 March 2015, with plans for additional sets in the

Kinki Region The or the , lies in the southern-central region of Japan's main island Honshū. The region includes the prefectures of Nara, Wakayama, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyōgo and Shiga, often also Mie, sometimes Fukui, Tokushima and Tottori. The metropolit ...

beginning in 2019.

Design

The trains have unpainted stainless steel bodies, with an exterior livery featuring red highlights. Each motored car has one motored bogie. The first batch of trains will be branded "Red Wing", with logos applied to the body sides and to the prominent anti-fall plates on the front ends, which inspired the name. Sets being ordered for 2022 will feature the colour pink which is associated with cherry blossoms as well as the softer climate experienced along the lines in which these trainsets will be running.

Operations

The 227 series trains were delivered from autumn 2014 for test running and driver training before entering revenue service initially on the

Sanyo Main Line , stylized as SANYO, is a Japanese electronics company and formerly a member of the ''Fortune'' Global 500 whose headquarters was located in Moriguchi, Osaka prefecture, Japan. Sanyo had over 230 subsidiaries and affiliates, and was founded b ...

between and , replacing ageing

JNR The abbreviated JNR or , was the business entity that operated Japan's national railway network from 1949 to 1987. Network Railways As of June 1, 1949, the date of establishment of JNR, it operated of narrow gauge () railways in all 46 pre ...

-era 115 series EMUs. The trains will also displace 115 series EMUs on the

Kure Line The is a railway line operated by West Japan Railway Company (JR West) within Hiroshima Prefecture in Japan. It begins at Mihara Station in Mihara and terminates at Kaitaichi Station in Kaita. It is one of the main lines of JR West. The secti ...

and

Kabe Line The is a railway line operated by West Japan Railway Company (JR West) within the city of Hiroshima in Japan. It connects Hiroshima Station and Aki-Kameyama Station in Asakita-ku, Hiroshima, Asakita-ku. The actual junction station is Yokogawa S ...

, with the entire fleet of 276 vehicles (106 sets) scheduled to be delivered by the end of fiscal 2018. Additional sets are being ordered for the San'yō Main Line in Okayama as of 2022.

Formations

The 227 series fleet on order consists of 42 two-car and 64 three-car sets, allowing formations of up to eight cars to be formed in service.

Hiroshima Area sets

3-car sets

The three-car sets are numbered A01 onward, and are formed as shown below with all three cars motored (one motored bogie per car). * The seating capacity figures above include 12 flip-down seats in the end cars and 16 in the intermediate cars. * The KuMoHa 227 car is fitted with a WPS28E single-arm

pantograph A pantograph (, from their original use for copying writing) is a mechanical linkage connected in a manner based on parallelograms so that the movement of one pen, in tracing an image, produces identical movements in a second pen. If a line dr ...

. * The KuMoHa 226 car has a

universal access Apple Universal Access is a component of the macOS operating system that provides computing abilities to people with visual impairment, hearing impairment, or physical disability. Components Universal Access is a preference pane of the Sys ...

toilet. File:Kumoha226-39.jpg, KuMoHa 226-39 File:Moha226-19.jpg, MoHa 226-19 File:Kumoha227-19.jpg, KuMoHa 227-19

2-car sets

The two-car sets are numbered S01 onward, and are formed as shown below with both cars motored (one motored bogie per car). * The seating capacity figures above include 12 flip-down seats in each car. * The KuMoHa 227 car is fitted with a WPS28E single-arm pantograph. * The KuMoHa 226 car has a universal access toilet.

Wakayama Area sets

227-1000 in Wakayama Car Maintenance Center

* The seating capacity figures above include longitudinal seats in each car. * The KuMoHa 227 car is fitted with a WPS28E single-arm pantograph. * The SD sets are equipped with a second de-icing pantograph. * The KuMoHa 226 car has a universal access toilet.

Interior

The passenger saloons use

LED lighting An LED lamp or LED light bulb is an electric light that produces light using light-emitting diodes (LEDs). LED lamps are significantly more energy-efficient than equivalent incandescent lamps and can be significantly more efficient than mos ...

, and the trains are equipped with

toilets and wheelchair spaces. In addition, they are also equipped with LED passenger information displays.

227-0 series

Passenger accommodation consists of transverse seating with flip-over seat backs, and longitudinal bench seating at the ends of cars. Flip-down seats are also provided next to the doorways. File:JRW-Series227-0 Inside.jpg, 227-0 series transverse seating, December 2021 File:JRW-Series227-0 Inside Cross-seat.jpg, A view of the transverse flip-over seating, December 2021 File:JRW-Series227-0 Inside Priority-seat.jpg, Priority seating, December 2021 File:JRW-Series227-0 Inside Free-space.jpg, The wheelchair space at the end of a KuMoHa 227 car File:JRW-Series227-0 Inside Toilet.jpg, Toilet File:JRW-Series227-0 Inside LED.jpg, LED passenger information display

227-1000 series

Passenger accommodation consists of longitudinal bench seating throughout. As the 227-1000 series trains support operation, doorways are equipped with ticket machines. File:Kumoha227-1005-syanai.jpg, 227-1000 series longitudinal seating, July 2019 File:JR West 227-1000 inside Emergency ladder 20210711.jpg, File:JR West 227-1000 inside toilet 20210711.jpg, Toilet File:JR West 227-1000 inside Cardreader Exit-Emergency ladder 20210711.jpg, Ticket machines, July 2021 File:JR West 227-1000 inside Fare display Kisei Main Line 20210711.jpg, LCD fare chart, July 2021

History

The first three-car set, numbered A03, was delivered to Hiroshima Depot in September 2014 from the

Kawasaki Heavy Industries Rolling Stock Company is the rolling stock manufacturing subsidiary of Kawasaki Heavy Industries. Since beginning operations in 1906, the company has produced more than 90,000 railroad cars. Products As indicated by the company name, the company mainly produ ...

factory in

Kobe Kobe ( , ; officially , ) is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture Japan. With a population around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Tokyo and Yokohama. It is located in Kansai region, whic ...

. Sets A01 and A02 were delivered to Hiroshima Depot from

Kinki Sharyo is a Japanese manufacturer of railroad vehicles based in Osaka. It is an affiliate company of Kintetsu Corporation. In business since 1920 (as Tanaka Rolling Stock Works) and renamed The Kinki Sharyo Co., Ltd in 1945. They have produced light ...

in October 2014. The first two car set, numbered S01, was delivered from Kawasaki Heavy Industries in January 2015 together with three-car set A06. In March 2018, JR West announced, that starting in Spring 2019, it planned to introduce a new version of 227 series trains to Sakurai and

Wakayama Line The is a railway line that links Nara Prefecture to Wakayama Prefecture in Japan, operated by West Japan Railway Company (JR West). It connects Ōji Station on the Yamatoji Line to Wakayama Station on the Hanwa Line and Kisei Main Line, with t ...

s, as well as part of

Kisei Main Line The is a railway line that parallels the coastline of the Kii Peninsula in Japan between Mie Prefecture and Wakayama Prefecture. The name takes the ''kanji'' characters from the names of the old provinces of and . The line is operated by Ce ...

. The planned 56-car fleet (28 sets of 2-car units) would displace all

105 series 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

and

117 series The is a Japanese suburban electric multiple unit An electric multiple unit or EMU is a multiple-unit train consisting of self-propelled carriages using electricity as the motive power. An EMU requires no separate locomotive, as electri ...

trains on the two lines by Spring 2020. Once the order is complete, the trains would have smart card readers on board, expanding

ICOCA The card is a rechargeable contactless smart card used on the JR West rail network in Japan. The card was launched on November 1, 2003 for usage on the Urban Network, which encompasses the major cities of Osaka, Kyoto and Kobe (Keihanshin). It ...

acceptance to all JR West service in

Nara prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Nara Prefecture has a population of 1,321,805 and has a geographic area of . Nara Prefecture borders Kyoto Prefecture to the north, Osaka Prefecture to the northwest, Wakayama P ...

and on Wakayama Line. In January 2022, it was announced that the 227-0 series would undergo a trial for platform-side cameras. The cameras would be activated on the right side of the train relative to the direction of driving.

JR West , also referred to as , is one of the Japan Railways Group (JR Group) companies and operates in western Honshu. It has its headquarters in Kita-ku, Osaka. It is listed in the Tokyo Stock Exchange, is a constituent of the TOPIX Large70 index, and ...

announced plans to build 101 new cars in 2-car and 3-car formations in May 2022. The trainsets are set to be used on rail lines serving

Okayama is the capital city of Okayama Prefecture in the Chūgoku region of Japan. The city was founded on June 1, 1889. , the city has an estimated population of 720,841 and a population density of 910 persons per km2. The total area is . The city is ...

and

Bingo Bingo or B-I-N-G-O may refer to: Arts and entertainment Gaming * Bingo, a game using a printed card of numbers ** Bingo (British version), a game using a printed card of 15 numbers on three lines; most commonly played in the UK and Ireland ** Bi ...

such as the San'yō Line and are scheduled for a 2023 entry into service.

Build details

227-0 series

3-car sets

2-car sets

227-1000 series

References

External links

JR-West press release (19 June 2014)

JR West press release (Okayama sets) (in Japanese)
{{JR-West rolling stock Electric multiple units of Japan West Japan Railway Company Train-related introductions in 2015 Kawasaki multiple units Kinki Sharyo multiple units 1500 V DC multiple units of Japan